Chapter 135: A bounty? On Cassel?
Rosalia’s POV
The sound that swallowed the world around us was not merely the clash of battle...
It was closer to the collapse of an entire reality.
The air itself felt heavy—thick, saturated with the metallic sting of blood, the rust of iron, and the sickening rot of decaying flesh. The stench clung to the lungs, invasive and suffocating, as if every breath carried death deeper into the body.
Zombies were everywhere.
They surged forward like an endless black tide, a grotesque current of broken bodies and twisted limbs. Their movements were wrong—jerky, unnatural, as if their joints no longer obeyed the logic of life. Their glassy eyes reflected nothing, hollow and vacant, yet somehow brimming with a chilling, unnatural hunger.
But they weren’t what made my spine shiver.
No...
It was the ones standing behind them.
Humans.
Humans controlling them.
I saw them clearly this time—because we had all moved outside, the battlefield spilling into the open streets.
If we had remained inside the hotel, we would have been trapped... and likely dead.
After Cassel blasted the gate apart, we surged outward, forcing our way into the open and preventing the zombies from surrounding us. What followed was not just combat—it was a desperate, ruthless struggle for survival.
And beyond the chaos...
I focused on them.
The real enemy.
Since I didn’t feel an immediate need to fight, I stood still for a moment, watching—studying their movements with careful precision.
There were men and women among them, of varying ages and backgrounds. Some formed a defensive perimeter around armored vehicles, their stances alert and prepared. Behind them stood others who clearly lacked combat ability—dressed in white lab coats, their hands busy operating strange devices mounted on metallic consoles.
Scientists.
Controllers.
"Just corpses foolish enough to attack me."
Cassel’s voice came from beside me—calm, cold, edged with mockery, as if he were watching an uninspired performance rather than standing in the middle of a life-or-death battlefield.
I turned to him.
He stood unmoving amidst the chaos, his black coat fluttering faintly in the shockwaves of distant explosions. His dark eyes were fixed not on the zombies charging toward us—but on those people.
Watching them.
Reading them.
Deciding how to break them.
He didn’t even glance at the monsters closing in.
Yes... from the very moment the battle began, Cassel had remained just two steps ahead of me, fighting without ever leaving my side. Somehow, impossibly, he had even found time to take my hand... and flirt.
And then—
He moved.
I didn’t see the beginning.
Only the result.
A violent surge of power erupted outward—so overwhelming that the ground itself split beneath his feet. The zombies rushing toward us shattered mid-air, torn apart as if by an invisible force, their bodies reduced to fragments before being swallowed entirely by the fractured earth.
Even using only a fraction of his abilities...
Cassel was absurdly powerful.
Terrifyingly so.
"Hah! That’s our boss!" Henry shouted from a distance, firing a bullet straight through the head of a lunging zombie.
"Focus, idiot!" Liz snapped, sliding beside him with fluid precision. Her blade flashed, slicing cleanly through another zombie’s neck. A blazing fireball followed, incinerating one creeping up behind him. "Do you want to become one of them?"
"If I do, at least I’ll be a handsome one!" Henry grinned, sweat dripping from his forehead down the bridge of his nose, his expression annoyingly proud.
Liz shoved his face away in disgust. "You’re barely tolerable as a human. I doubt anyone could look at you as a zombie."
And then...
Her lips curved into a soft, fleeting laugh.
A short, involuntary laugh escaped me as well.
Those two... how could they joke in a situation like this?
But... their bond had clearly grown stronger.
On the other side, Frederick fought in a completely different manner—calm, composed, every movement deliberate. His long sword gleamed with each strike, cutting through zombies as if he were writing elegant lines across the air.
He wasn’t particularly fast, and the zombies began to surround him—some even managing to bite him.
But it didn’t matter.
His unique ability coated his entire body in stone, rendering both their attacks and the virus utterly meaningless.
He continued cutting them down—methodically, without hesitation.
"Robin, your left."
"I see it!"
Robin was no less fierce—he surged forward, his glowing fist slamming into a massive zombie’s chest, crushing its ribcage completely.
"One hundred!"
"You’re cheating. You’re nowhere near that number," Frederick said flatly.
"I am! Get ready to lose, kid!"
"Who are you calling a child?"
Behind them, the other teams had joined the fight.
Victor’s voice rang out—sharp, commanding. "Advance in a semicircle! Don’t let them surround us!"
Caroline moved like a dancer amidst death—light, swift, untouchable. "Keep your distance! Don’t let them touch you—and watch the enemies behind them!"
Zane said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
He was a storm.
Every strike he delivered sent zombies flying like ragdolls, his sheer force leaving devastation in its wake.
For a moment...
We weren’t separate teams.
We were survivors.
Fighting together.
But my eyes...
They couldn’t leave Cassel.
Because he wasn’t fighting like them.
He was...
Playing.
He walked toward the humans—the ones hidden behind the zombie line—with steady, unhurried steps. He paid no attention to the creatures charging at him...
Because none of them ever reached him.
Each one that came close—
Shattered.
Erased.
Reduced to ash within seconds.
I followed behind him, my heartbeat unsteady, until we drew close enough to the armored vehicles.
"Finally..." one of the lab-coated men spoke, his voice lazy, laced with malice. "Mr. Cassel. You’re here."
Cassel stopped.
A faint smile touched his lips.
Cold.
Subtle.
Yet enough to chill the air.
"Ah... so you know my name," he said quietly. "That saves me some time."
"You’ve cost us quite a lot," the man continued. "Those ’toys’ of ours aren’t easy to make, Mr. Zancroft. But the bounty on your head... makes it worthwhile."
I froze.
A bounty?
On him?
"Bounty?" Cassel repeated, as if savoring the word. "How much?"
A brief silence.
Then—
Laughter.
The middle-aged man burst into laughter—not loud, but genuine.
"Enough," he said, "to make every organization in this world hunt you."
Cassel laughed.
Softly.
Truly.
"That’s impressive," he said. "I didn’t realize I was that important."
"Surrender," another man cut in. "It’ll hurt less. Our employer wants you alive... though they won’t mind if you’re missing a limb or two."
Shock rippled through me—but Cassel...
Didn’t care.
Not even slightly.
He tilted his head.
"I don’t think you understand the situation."
He stepped forward.
The ground trembled beneath them.
"You... came to me."
He raised his hand slowly.
One of the devices mounted on a massive zombie’s back exploded with a sharp mechanical screech.
The zombie froze—
Then turned.
And attacked the humans.
No longer controlled.
No longer a soldier.
"Do you really think you’ll leave here alive... after attacking me?" Cassel’s eyes gleamed with a blood-reflecting light. "With tricks like these... I doubt it."
They exchanged uneasy glances.
"Wha—"
"Equipment," Cassel interrupted. "I was planning to search the eastern cities for it... but you’ve kindly delivered it to my doorstep."
His smile widened slightly.
And the scientists paled.
A chill ran through me.
He didn’t just want to defeat them; he wanted to destroy them.
He wanted to take everything.
Of course...
He intended to lead them to their base.
To steal everything we came here to find.
Cassel...
Really...
"Arrogant," one muttered.
"Practical," Cassel replied. "Now... a simple proposal."
Silence fell.
"Take me to your headquarters."
The air froze.
Even the zombies seemed to pause.
"What?"
"You heard me," he said calmly. "Since you came for me... the least you can do is finish the trip."
"You—"
They didn’t finish.
Because Cassel...
Disappeared.
And reappeared in front of them.
What followed...
Was not human.
Screams.
Explosions.
Bodies hurled into the air.
I couldn’t follow it all—it was too fast, too violent—
But one thing was clear.
He was winning.
Effortlessly.
The zombies began losing coordination. Some collapsed, others turned erratic, attacking at random as control over them faltered.
"The zombies are out of control!" Caroline shouted.
"Keep going!" Victor yelled. "This is our chance! Kill them all!"
Everyone pushed forward.
The battle...
Shifted.
I struggled to breathe, my hands trembling—but I wasn’t helpless.
I used my ability to push zombies away, stepping in beside Liz when she nearly got surrounded.
"Thanks!" she said quickly before diving back into combat.
But then...
A feeling.
Someone watching me.
Something wrong.
I turned.
Matthew.
He was... close.
Too close.
When did he get there?
I hadn’t noticed at all.
He wasn’t fighting.
Wasn’t attacking.
Just...
Moving slowly.
Staying within my range.
Watching me.
Not the enemy.
Me.
Unease crept into my chest.
"Matthew?" I called.
No response.
Only—
A smile.
Small.
Strange.
And before I could understand—
Everything changed.
In an instant.
I was watching Cassel—standing amidst the fallen bodies of his enemies, like a king upon his battlefield—
When—
Arms wrapped around me.
Strong.
Sudden.
Unyielding.
I froze.
"What—"
